Month: March 2015

QTS Realty Trust (NYSE: QTS) said it has partnered with Comstor to become a key supplier of cloud solutions, specifically the FedRAMP compliant, QTS Federal Cloud.

New York-based Comstor, with USD6 billion in annual sales revenue, is a dedicated, value-added distributor of Cisco networking, collaboration, security, cloud and data center solutions through a global network of specialty resellers.

“QTS´ cloud solutions are exactly what our reseller network needs to meet their clients´ demand for flexible cloud services,” said Geoff Fancher, Senior Vice President – Comstor US. “QTS´ FedRAMP certification gives our Federal customers the peace of mind they need to move to the cloud and meet the stringent requirements the government has set. Plus, both Comstor and QTS are part of the Cisco InterCloud partner ecosystem, so our strategic priorities are well aligned,” he added.

QTS Realty Trust is a leading national provider of data center solutions and fully managed services and a leader in security and compliance.

NQ Mobile Inc. (NYSE: NQ) said it has appointed Chun Ding as an independent director to the company´s board of directors, effective as of March 18, 2015.

Ding, a US citizen, is the managing member of CRCM LLC, the general partner of CRCM L.P., an asset management firm he founded in 2006. He graduated, as valedictorian, from Middlebury College in 1993 with a B.A. in economics, and received his masters of business administration from Harvard Business School in 1997, as a Baker Scholar.

Opera Software said it has acquired SurfEasy Inc., a leading Toronto-based company that provides an easy-to-use VPN solution for protecting customers´ online privacy and security on smartphones, tablets and computers.

A VPN or “virtual private network” provides an added layer of Internet security by encrypting all Internet traffic sent to and from your device. A VPN therefore allows people to access the Internet freely, without the fear of compromising their sensitive data.

“Over the past few years the dialogue and awareness around online privacy issues has increased dramatically. We are all now very aware just how vulnerable our data is to hacking, monitoring and censorship, regardless of the network or device you´re using to access the web,” says Chris Houston, founder and CEO, SurfEasy.

“By teaming up with Opera, a global Internet company with over 350 million users, we are able to accelerate our vision to give users access to simple applications that let them take back control of their online privacy and freedom,” he continues.

Opera Software crafts products and services that connect 350 million people to the Internet. More than 130 operators around the world choose to work with us to give their customers the best web experience.

SurfEasy Inc. provides easy-to-use solutions for protecting our customers´ online privacy and security on any smartphone, tablet and computer. It operates a global private network that harnesses bank-grade encryption technology to enable customers to access the Internet without the fear of being hacked or monitored.

Consumer revenues were RMB151.6 million (USD24.4 million) in 2014, a 473 percent increase from 2013.

Bandwidth costs as a component of cost of revenues were RMB917.3 million (USD147.8 million) in 2014, representing 23 percent of net revenues, as compared to 23 percent of net revenues in 2013.

Gross profit was RMB781.0 million (USD125.9 million) in 2014. Non-GAAP gross profit was RMB838.0 million (USD135.1 million) in 2014, a 39 percent increase from 2013.

Operating expenses were RMB1.7 billion (USD274.1 million) in 2014, as compared to RMB1.2 billion (USD193.4 million) in 2013. Non-GAAP operating expenses were RMB1.4 billion (USD229.6 million) in 2014, as compared to RMB1.0 billion (USD161.2 million) in 2013. Detailed discussion of each component of operating expenses is as follows:

Youku Tudou is China´s leading Internet television company. Its Youku and Tudou Internet television platforms enable users to search, view and share high-quality video content quickly and easily across multiple devices.

Radio One, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROIAK)(NASDAQ: ROIA) said it has commenced a consent solicitation to seek the consent of holders of its outstanding 9.25 percent senior subordinated notes due 2020 to certain proposed amendments to the indenture governing the notes.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC will act as solicitation agent for the Consent Solicitation. D.F. King & Co., Inc. will act as the tabulation agent and information agent for the Consent Solicitation.

The company said it wants to incur a sufficient amount of senior secured indebtedness to finance the company´s previously announced purchase of equity interests in TV One, LLC from an affiliate of Comcast Corporation, refinance USD119 million in principal amount of TV One´s 10 percent senior secured notes due 2016, and refinance the company´s existing senior secured credit facility.

The solicitation will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 26, 2015, unless extended or terminated earlier.

Radio One, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, is a diversified media company that primarily targets African-American and urban consumers. The company is one of the nation´s largest radio broadcasting companies, currently owning and/or operating 54 broadcast stations located in 16 urban markets in the United States.

GAAP net loss of USD(33.8) million, or a loss of USD(1.35) per basic and diluted share based on 25.1 million weighted average shares of common stock outstanding, as compared to a GAAP net loss of USD(20.1) million, or a loss of USD(1.01) per basic and diluted share based on 19.8 million weighted average shares of common stock outstanding in the prior year.

Non-GAAP net loss of USD(26.9) million, or USD(1.07) per basic and diluted share, as compared to a non-GAAP net loss of USD(15.1) million, or USD(0.76) per basic and diluted share in the prior year.

The company said it has built a web platform that enables users to search and process millions of indexed documents and to visually map answers to questions that might previously have required weeks or months of research. For example, a company launching a new product might use Quid to understand market reception to the product´s features by searching thousands of blog posts and media reviews, producing a visual mapping of results within a matter of seconds.

“We are proud to have reached this funding milestone with Quid, right on the heels of signing our first multi-million-dollar customers,” said Neville Crawley, CEO of Quid. “Quid is empowering organizations to immediately gain insights through machine-driven intelligence, and this funding round will allow us to further expand our product and engineering capabilities and to invest in sales and marketing to bring our technology to a broader set of clients.”

More than 80 blue-chip companies have become Quid customers since the launch of its web platform in January 2014, including management consulting firms, media agencies, and other leading enterprises. Earlier this month, The Boston Consulting Group a leading global management consultancy, entered into an enterprise-wide relationship in order to expand the proven impact of Quid.

Quid is an artificial intelligence company in San Francisco founded in 2010 to radically enhance how professionals interact with the world´s information. The company currently has 60 employees, half of whom are engineers.

Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT) (TASE: ESLT) said revenues in the fourth quarter of 2014 were USD850.3 million, as compared to USD811.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Gross profit amounted to USD229.5 million (27.0 percent of revenues) in the fourth quarter of 2014, as compared to USD221.5 million (27.3 percent of revenues) in the fourth quarter of 2013. The non-GAAP gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2014 was USD235.0 million (27.6 percent of revenues), as compared to USD228.1 million (28.1 percent of revenues) in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Research and development expenses, net, were USD71.0 million (8.4 percent of revenues) in the fourth quarter of 2014, as compared to USD63.9 million (7.9 percent of revenues) in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Marketing and selling expenses, net, were USD59.5 million (7.0 percent of revenues) in the fourth quarter of 2014, as compared to USD60.7 million (7.5 percent of revenues) in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2014 were USD2,958.2 million, as compared to USD2,925.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2013. The increases in the airborne systems and C4ISR systems areas of operation were primarily due to increased revenues from airborne EW systems worldwide and HLS systems sold to Latin America, the company said.

Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international high technology company engaged in a wide range of defense, homeland security and commercial programs throughout the world. For additional information, visit: www.elbitsystems.com